You can write

I told my audience in a writing lecture I did for government employees that everyone can write. It’s just that most people are too lazy to put their thoughts into words.

A special friend of mine recently tried to write a piece and I was amazed at how it turned out. The written piece is so inspired, it made me realize how jaded I have become for the last two decades.

I stopped writing poetry. I got tired of listening to my emotions. I think I lost inspiration. The good news is, inspiration is just 10% of the actual writing exercise. The bad news is, I wanted that 10% back into my writing but the 90% has been putting food on my table so I have to concentrate on that. Or should I?

Jojo has been wringing my neck for the last few weeks, trying to convince me to start writing my own book. My own what, now? Goodness grief, I never even imagined myself writing a pamphlet (although I have, for numerous clients). It’s so that I can leave my legacy when I die, he says. Now, why would I want legacy attached to my dead name?

See, I told you I’m jaded. And I lack confidence. No drive. I’m really quite tired already. I need a long vacation. The log cabin that I keep in my daydream is getting weary and old. I need a new daydream where I can be free again.

Or maybe not yet. Perhaps not even necessary. I like the place where I am now, surrounded by people I love who love me back.

For those of you who are afraid to see your thoughts turn into words, die wondering if you can write. Let me tell you this, though. You actually have already started. That last note you wrote to a friend. The testimonial you posted on friendster. The memo you wrote in the office. The reminder you posted on the ref. I can go on and on, and you probably got my message already but still refuse to believe that what you did is already called a written piece. Maybe not a masterpiece, but I call it a “topic” that has the potential to be expounded into a full essay. Or a blog. A love story.

Write. It’s 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. You can do it the other way around if you wish. Just do it and write what you are now feeling. Thinking. Aspiring. Anything.

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3 thoughts on “You can write”

You are right. Of course, everyone can write. Just as everyone can sing. Words, like songs, can be read or heard, but few of these actually reach the real destination — people’s hearts.

I’ve always believed that writing, like singing, is a gift from above. You have to be born with the talent. Without real talent, you can only go so far, even with rigid study. Born with the gift, you can hone it, call on the muses, and move and touch people.

If I were to guess at the formula for the kind of writing that moves people, I’d say it’s 60% talent and 40% experience in the whole gamut of human emotions.

The depth, height and breadth of your capacity for feeling dictates whether the inspired and inspiring fruits of the 60% talent you were born with would be unleashed to the world or would remain an embryo inside of you.

But, there you are — you’ve already exhibited the talent, and you know your heart’s big on emotions. All you have to do is to draw inspiration from within. Forget about having or not having self-confidence, find the one subject you most feel like writing a book about, then just do it. I also believe you can.

Maybe I’m too idealistic when it comes to talents, but I really believe that it’s the heart that writes. And, it’s not even your heart alone — but that part of your heart that connects to the one common universal heart — the source and center of which is God.

I guess there lies the difference between those who write for a living (like myself) and those who write for pleasure and out of inspiration. As a corporate writer, I have to write to meet deadlines and clients’ whims. In the meantime, I’m trying to summon my inner angels and demons to help me find the true emotions that I have seemed to lose in the course of my career building. Heck, this blogging thing is a relief. I’m also keeping a little book where I can write random thoughts in case my laptop is not around.

You’re right, Kate, God remains the center of every inspiration and perspiration that flows out of my work. At least, I’m trying to keep it that way…

I’m sure you’ve experienced, as many people have, looking for something you’ve misplaced — eyeglasses, keys or whatever. Then you give up looking, and somehow it emerges or you suddenly remember where it is. Just relax and you’ll find the balance so you can write for a living and write for pleasure — some people have. Just have an open heart and listen and answer back when it calls.